Communication systems and methods for switching between contention based and contention free modes

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods presented herein provide for improving communications when encountering aggressive communication systems. In one embodiment, a communication system comprises a wireless access point operable to link a first user equipment (UE) to a WiFi network via a contention based mode that directs the WAP to share radio frequency spectrum with other WAPs. The communication system also comprises a communication processor operable to query at least the first UE to determine aggressive radio frequency (RF) band activity by another communication system in range of the WAP, to determine that the aggressive RF band activity by the other communication system is pushing communication with the first UE via the WAP below a threshold level, and based on the determination, direct the WAP to switch to a contention free mode to communicate with the first UE in contention free mode.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/889,345, filed Jun. 1, 2020, which application is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 15/726,790, filed Oct. 6, 2017, whichapplication a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/940,913,filed Nov. 13, 2015, the disclosure and benefit of which are all herebyincorporated in their entireties by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Communication systems exist in a variety of forms operating at numerousfrequency ranges. For example, in North America, frequency ranges forLong Term Evolution (LTE) networks operate at 700, 750, 800, 850, 1900,1700, 2100, 2500 and 2600 MHz. These frequency ranges correspond togovernment licensed bands of 2, 4, 7, 12, 13, 17, 25, 26, and 41,respectively. In these bands, the Federal Communications Commission(FCC), a government licensing authority, assures that communicationnetworks do not interfere with one another. In other bands, such as theISM (industrial, scientific and medical) bands, government licensingagencies generally allow communications systems to operate freelybecause interference between communication systems at these much higherfrequency ranges is often limited by distance. However, somecommunications systems are finding themselves in relatively closeproximity with one another at these frequencies, leading to acompetition for radio frequency (RF) resources. Accordingly, some ofthese communication systems, such as WiFi, have developed protocols thatensure each system shares resources fairly.

Unfortunately, not all of these communication technologies share thesame fairness and resource allocation policies. For example, as thegovernment licensed the bands to LTE networks, there was no need for thetechnology to adopt any type of spectrum sharing policies because eachnetwork had sole use of its frequency band. Accordingly, when LTEcommunication systems invade other unlicensed spectrums, they tend tooccupy all of the frequency resources of the spectrums and interferewith other communication systems.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods presented herein provide for improvingcommunications when encountering aggressive communication systems. Inone embodiment, a communication system comprises a wireless access pointoperable to link a first user equipment (UE) to a WiFi network via acontention based mode that directs the WAP to share radio frequencyspectrum with other WAPs. The communication system also comprises acommunication processor operable to query at least the first UE todetermine aggressive radio frequency (RF) band activity by anothercommunication system in range of the WAP, to determine that theaggressive RF band activity by the other communication system is pushingcommunication with the first UE via the WAP below a threshold level, andbased on the determination, direct the WAP to switch to a contentionfree mode to communicate with the first UE in contention free mode.

The various embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in a varietyof ways as a matter of design choice. For example, some embodimentsherein are implemented in hardware whereas other embodiments may includeprocesses that are operable to implement and/or operate the hardware.Other exemplary embodiments, including software and firmware, aredescribed below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Some embodiments of the present invention are now described, by way ofexample only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings. The samereference number represents the same element or the same type of elementon all drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary communication system operablewhen encountering aggressive behavior from other communication systems.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process of thecommunication system of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating communication success rates when an LTEnetwork is within range of a WiFi Network.

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating a baseline collision probability when anLTE network is within range of a WiFi Network.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a WiFi communication system operable whenencountering aggressive behavior from an LTE communication system.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating how a WiFi WAP groups UEs forcontention free access.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are block diagrams of data frames illustrating bits foruse in messaging a UE.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process of thecommunication system of FIG. 5 .

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system in which acomputer readable medium provides instructions for performing methodsherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The figures and the following description illustrate specific exemplaryembodiments of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that thoseskilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that,although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principlesof the invention and are included within the scope of the invention.Furthermore, any examples described herein are intended to aid inunderstanding the principles of the invention and are to be construed asbeing without limitation to such specifically recited examples andconditions. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specificembodiments or examples described below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary communication system operablewhen encountering aggressive behavior from other communication systems.The communication system includes a communication processor 110 that iscoupled to a WAP 104 through a communication network 105. Thecommunication processor 110 is operable to detect aggressive behaviorfrom the radio access network (RAN) point 102 communicating with one ormore UEs 103-1-103-N in the vicinity of the WAP 104. For example, the UE103-1 may be communicating with the communication network 105 throughthe WAP 104 under one communication protocol. Other UEs 103 in the areamay be communicating with the RAN point 102 via another differentcommunication protocol. Communications from these other UEs 103 with theRAN point 102 may interfere with the communications of UEs 103 trying tocommunicate through the WAP 104. The communication processor 110 isoperable to detect this aggressive activity and estimate a rate ofsuccessful communication with a UE (e.g., UE 103-1) via the WAP 104based on some of the UEs 103 (e.g., UEs 103-2-103-N, wherein thereference number “N” is merely intended to represent an integer greaterthan 1 and not necessarily equal to any other “N” references herein)communicating with the RAN point 102 via the other communicationprotocol.

Examples of the UEs 103 include cellular phones, laptop computers,tablet computers, and the like. Generally, the WAP 104 operates on oneprotocol and the RAN point 102 operates on another different protocol.However, the communication processor 110 may also be operable to detectaggressive activity in an RF band from another communication systemusing the same communication protocol as the WAP 104. In any case, thecommunication processor 110 is operable to detect aggressive activity byanother communication system, determine the ability of the UE 103 tocommunicate through the WAP 104, and circumvent the aggressive activityof the other communication system. Examples of the communicationprocessor 110 include network elements operable with the communicationnetwork 105 (e.g., communication switches, routers, network servers,etc.). Although the communication processor 110 was discussed as beingconfigured external to the WAP 104, alternative embodiments include thecommunication processor 110 being configured with the WAP 104.

Examples of the communication system include a WiFi network beinginterfered with by an LTE network. For example, LTE communications areincreasingly moving into unlicensed RF bands where WiFi communicationspredominately exist (e.g., the ISM band). Accordingly, the embodimentsherein may be operable to detect aggressive activity by an LTE networkand work to overcome any interference by the LTE network. However, theinvention is not intended to be limited to WiFi communications beinginterfered with by LTE communications. Rather, the embodiments hereinare intended to provide an understanding of how one communication systemoperating under a communication protocol can work to overcome aggressiveactivity by another communication system operating under a differentcommunication protocol. Other exemplary embodiments are shown anddescribed below.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process 200 of thecommunication system of FIG. 1 . In this embodiment, the WAP 104 links afirst UE 103 (e.g., UE 103-1) to the communication network 105 using afirst communication protocol, in the process element 201. From there,the communication processor 110 detects another communication systemoperating within range of the WAP 104, in the process element 202. Thecommunication processor 110 then determines whether the othercommunication system is operating on the same protocol as that of theWAP 104, in the process element 203.

For example, if the WAP 104 is part of a WiFi communication networkusing the 802.11 IEEE protocol and the RAN point 102 is operating underthe same WiFi protocol, then the WAP 104 understands how to communicatewith the UE 103-1 based on contention procedures within the 802.11 IEEEprotocol so that both WiFi networks can coexist. However, if the RANpoint 102 is part of an LTE network, the LTE network may attempt toacquire as much of the RF band as it needs without regard to any othersystems, such as WiFi. And, since the WAP 104 would not understand howto coexist with another communication network, the LTE communicationsmay severely degrade or even destroy any possibility of the WAP 104communicating with the UE 103-1.

Accordingly, if the other communication system is operating inaccordance with the protocol signaling of the WAP 104, then the WAP 104may implement its “back off” procedures to ensure that the WAP 104coexists with the RAN 102, in the process element 206. From there, theWAP 104 and the communication processor 110 may link another or the sameUE 103 to the WAP 104 in the process element 201. That is, thecommunication processor 110 may continually evaluate whethercommunications are likely to be successful for the UEs 103. But, if theRAN 102 is operating on a different communication protocol than the WAP104 so as to potentially interfere with the WAP 104, then thecommunication processor 110 queries the UEs 103 within range of the WAP104, in the process element 204. From there, the communication processor110 estimates a successful communication with the first UE 103 (e.g.,the UE 103-1), in the process element 205, based on the number of UEs103 communicating via the other communication protocol.

To illustrate, LTE-U (also known as Licensed-Assisted Access LTE, or“LAA-LTE”) is a form of LTE communications in the unlicensed band. And,this form of communications is being rapidly implemented so as toprovide LTE “hotspots” for subscriber UEs 103. Although WiFi networkshave traditionally been the dominant technology utilizing the unlicensedspectrum, the advent of LTE-U will likely change the manner in which the“free” spectrum is occupied. WiFi traditionally coexists well with otherWiFi networks due to the standardized, contention-based MAC (mediaaccess control) protocol that is implemented by most WiFi equipment. TheDCF (distributed coordinated function) and the EDCA (enhanceddistributed channel access) of the MAC ensures when multiple WiFinetworks occupy the same spectrum in the vicinity of each other, ensurethat each network shares the resources fairly.

LTE on the other hand is a different Radio Access Technology (RAT) thatuses a different channel access algorithm that can aggressively occupy achannel in an RF band, potentially interfering with any neighboring WiFiaccess points. Using the baseline behavior of DCF/EDCA MAC, WiFiequipment can be configured to detect aggressive behavior of other usersof the unlicensed band in the vicinity without any changes to theexisting MAC protocol implementations at the WAP 104 and/or in the UEs103 themselves. Once aggressive behavior is detected, the communicationprocessor 110 can then determine how to ensure the performance of WiFicommunications with the UE 103 are not adversely harmed through channelreservation of the LTE network.

Consider a WiFi network with one WAP and “N” number of users. The WAP ofthe WiFi network may detect the presence of another RAN via UEs 103 thatare capable of decoding multiple radio access technologies, such as WiFiand LTE. In doing so, the WiFi network (e.g., communication processor110 and the WAP 104) estimates the number of UEs 103 associated with theWiFi network and the number of UEs 103 associated with the LTE network.

In one embodiment, the communication processor 110 directs the UEs 103to turn on their LTE radios to detect a number of their LTE neighborsand report back to the WAP 104. The UEs 103 may also report the MACaddresses of their LTE neighbors back to the WAP 104. Based on a unionof MAC addresses of LTE neighbors reported by the UEs 103, thecommunication processor 110 can estimate the number of LTE users withinthe range of its WiFi network. Once the number of users for the WiFinetwork and for the neighboring network(s) has been estimated, thecommunication processor 110 obtains the statistics of its own successfulchannel access (e.g., based on a rolling time window of previous channelaccesses), and compares it to a baseline/threshold probability ofsuccess for communication and/or a communication probability for aparticular UE 103.

Generally, the baseline probability of successful channel access is atheoretical probability computed for multiple networks of the same type.For example, graph 230 of FIG. 3 illustrates when an LTE network ispresent within the range of a WiFi Network. The curve 231 shows the casewhen two WiFi networks coexist with each other. In this embodiment, thecurve 231 is used as a baseline that WiFi networks coexist fairly wellwith each other (e.g., by sharing resources equally). The probability ofsuccessful channel access is a function of the number of usersassociated with the WiFi network (e.g., WAP 104) and the number of usersassociated with another network within range of the WiFi network

The baseline curve 231 can be computed for a variety of cases, includingmultiple networks in the vicinity of the WAP 104 and/or multiple UEs 103in each network. The baseline 231 may be computed offline by thecommunication processor 110, stored in a database, and pushed to the WAP104 to reduce the computation burden on the WAP 104.

To illustrate, an LAA-LTE network is present within the range of theWiFi Network as shown in FIG. 3 . A data point on the curve 232represents actual statistics collected by a WiFi network WAP. Thecommunication processor 110 compares the collected data point to thecorresponding baseline on the curve 231 for the same number of UEs 103,and determines that the actual successful channel access rate issignificantly lower than the baseline. Accordingly, the WAP104/communication processor 110 of a WiFi Network embodiment determinesthat the LAA network is behaving aggressively.

The graph 240 of FIG. 4 illustrates baseline collision probability thatcan be used by the network WAP. For example, instead of or in additionto determining the probability of successful transmission, the WAP104/communication processor 110 can determine the probability of acollision when encountering aggressive activity by another network(e.g., the RAN 102). The baseline curve 241 illustrates howcommunications collisions with others can be overcome through standardcommunications. For example, for data points under the curve 241,collision probability is relatively low meaning there is no need tochange communication strategies. However, data points above the curve241 mean that collisions are likely to occur and that another network isbehaving aggressively. So, the WAP 104 may need to change itscommunication strategy, as discussed below.

Once the communication processor 110 determines that the other networkis behaving aggressively, the communication processor 110 can identifyways to overcome the aggressive activity of the other network. FIG. 5 isa block diagram of a WiFi communication system operable whenencountering aggressive behavior from an LTE communication system. Inthis embodiment, the WAP 104 is a WiFi WAP and the RAN point 102 is anLTE RAN point. However, the invention is not intended to be limitedsimply to WiFi and LTE as other communication technologies may be used.For example, the inventive aspects herein may be used in anycommunication systems that do not have contention mechanisms built inwhen encountering different communication technologies.

Existing implementations of WiFi networks follow the contention-basedDCF and EDCA MAC protocols when contending with other WiFi networks forRF resources. However, WiFi networks may reserve the medium for the WiFiWAP 104 to override the regular DCF/EDCA back off mechanisms. Forexample, in response to other aggressive users of unlicensed spectrum,the communication processor 110 may override the backoff mechanisms suchthat the WiFi WAP 104 remains in “LISTEN” mode if other WiFi WAPs followthe regular 802.11 back off rules. Alternatively or additionally, CSMA(Carrier sense multiple access) contention-based medium access becomesinefficient and channel utilization degrades when a large number of WiFiWAPs contend for a channel due to a high number of collisions.Accordingly, WiFi WAPs can employ a schedule-based access to the medium,which improves the channel utilization.

Without changing the baseline DCF/EDCA MAC protocol implementation, thecommunication processor 110 can enable the WiFi WAP 104 to access themedium according to a schedule and in a contention-free manner. Forexample, default access to the medium by WiFi WAPs will remaincontention-based. When the WiFi WAP 104 perceives that contention-freeaccess to the medium is necessary (e.g., when aggressive behavior fromother users of the unlicensed spectrum is detected or when the level ofcontention is so high that it leads to poor channel utilization if WAPsfollow the regular contention-based medium access rules), the WAPtriggers the UEs 103.

Consider the WiFi network 105 with one WiFi WAP 104 and “N” UEs 103associated with the WAP 104. The WiFi WAP 104 “knows” the identity ofits associated UEs 103 through their MAC addresses. The WiFi WAP 104determines that it needs to grant its associated UEs 103 (or some subsetof them, “M”, wherein “M” is also an integer greater than 1 and notnecessarily equal to any other “M” reference herein) access to themedium in a contention-free manner. This group is denoted as the“contention-free group”. The WAP 104 may perceive interference fromaggressive interference sources on the “M” UEs 103. Accordingly, the WAP104 may perceive a high level of contention and low channel utilizationas measured through the collision rate.

The WAP 104 may send a “trigger frame”, which is a short payload-freepacket containing PHY and MAC layer headers destined to the “M” numberof UEs 103 of the contention-free group one at a time as illustrated inFIG. 6 . The WAP 104 may set one of the currently unused bits in the MACheader to indicate to all of its “N” associated UEs 103 that the UE 103whose MAC address matches the RA (receiver address) field of the MACheader is allowed to over-ride the regular channel sensing and back offmechanism to transmit its packet immediately. In doing so, the WAP 104may set the length field in the MAC header of the trigger frame equal toa predefined value.

The other “N−1” clients (i.e., whose MAC addresses do not match) willset their network allocation vectors (NAVs) and freeze their back offtimers accordingly. Examples of the unused bits in the MPDU (mediaaccess control protocol data unit) header that can be used are in the HTcapabilities field. For example, the HT capabilities of the MAC providemodulation and coding scheme (MCS) values which are supported by theWiFi WAP 104. These data rates can be used by both the WAP 104 and a UE103 to send unicast traffic back and forth. However, some of these bitsare unused in the 802.11n HT capabilities field and can be used toindicate to the UE 103 to switch to contention free access.Alternatively or additionally, a reserved bit in the HT capabilitiesfield of 802.11ac can be used. Examples of these are illustrated inFIGS. 7 and 8 .

FIG. 7 illustrates the 802.11n HT capabilities field 350 having unusedbits 351 and 352 being capable of employing the messaging used to directthe UEs 103 to employ contention free access. FIG. 8 illustrates the802.11ac HT capabilities field 360 with the reserved bit 361 beingcapable of employing the messaging used to direct the UEs 103 to employcontention free access.

Each of the “M” clients in the contention-free group, upon receiving theopportunity to transmit, looks at the packets in its queue and sends aframe whose length plus the ACK (acknowledgment) from the WAP 104 isless than the predefined length value. If the length of all of theavailable packets is more than this predefined value, then the UE 103will send an ACK indicating to the WAP 104 that it cannot use thistransmission opportunity. The WAP 104 may then provide multipletransmission opportunities for a particular UE 103 by sending multipletrigger frames with the UE 103's MAC address in the RA field of MPDU.

With these above embodiments in mind, the communication processor 110and the WAP 104 are operable to implement a process that directs the UEs103 to operate in a contention free mode. FIG. 9 is a flowchartillustrating an exemplary process 300 of the communication system ofFIG. 5 . In this embodiment, the WAP 104 establishes a link between afirst UE 103 (UE 103-1) in a typical DCF mode, in the process element301. This allows the UEs 103 to contend for access to the WiFi network105 through the WAP 104 as is normally done.

The WAP 104 may then query the first UE 103 (e.g., UE 103-1) todetermine whether any aggressive RF band activity by anothercommunication system is within range of the WAP 104, in the processelement 302. For example, the UE 103 and others like it may be able tooperate using WiFi and LTE communications. If an LTE communicationsystem is operating within range of the WAP 104, the WAP 104 may beginto experience high collision rates and/or low successful transmissionrates with the UE 103. Accordingly, the WAP 104 may direct the UE 103 tocontact neighboring UEs 103 to determine how many UEs 103 are operatingwith the LTE communication system.

When a UE 103 is operating with an LTE network, the LTE RAN 102 reservesspectrum for each of its UEs. Accordingly, each of the UEs 103communicating with the LTE RAN 102 may know its precise channel underwhich it is communicating. In this regard, the WiFi WAP 104 can transmita message to the UEs 103 (e.g., via one of the unused bits in the MACheaders) that directs the UEs 103 to report the frequencies which theyare occupying. Then, based on the number of UEs 103 reporting back tothe WAP 104, the communication processor 110 can compare the estimatedcommunication success rate and/or the collision rate to the baselinelevel as mentioned above, in the process element 303, so as to determinewhether the success rate is below a particular threshold level and/orwhether the collision rate is above a particular threshold level, in theprocess element 304.

If the communication success rate is below the threshold level, then theWAP 104 directs its client UEs 103 to switch to the contention freemode, in the process element 305. This ensures that the UEs communicatewith the WAP 104 in a contention free mode. That is, the UEs 103 aredirected to operate without regard to other networks in the area, inessence becoming as aggressive as the LTE RAN 102. Otherwise, the WAP104 continues to query the UEs 103 within range of the WAP 104 toessentially monitor the activity of any potential LTE networks.Similarly, after the WAP 104 directs the UE 103 to switch to thecontention free mode, the WAP 104 continues to monitor the aggressiveactivity of the LTE networks, in the process element 302, to switch theUE to the contention based mode once the activity ceases, therebyallowing the WAP 104 to coexist with other WiFi WAPs in the vicinity.

Alternatively or additionally, the UEs 103, when attempting to connectto the WAP 104, may automatically transfer an indicator that the UEs 103also have LTE capabilities. For example, in an acknowledgment frame tothe WiFi WAP 104, a UE 103 may indicate in an unused bit of a header,that the UE 103 has the LTE capability. The WAP 104 detects thisindicator and determines if the UE 103 is communicating with the LTEnetwork. If so, then the WAP 104 issues a new control frame to the UE103 that directs the UE 103 to turn the CSMA capability of the UE 103off. This new WiFi control frame may include the existing PHY and MACheader per WiFi spec as well as a one bit indicator that controls theCSMA capability of the UE 103.

The invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardwareand software elements. In one embodiment, the invention is implementedin software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, residentsoftware, microcode, etc. FIG. 10 illustrates a computing system 400 inwhich a computer readable medium 406 may provide instructions forperforming any of the methods disclosed herein.

Furthermore, the invention can take the form of a computer programproduct accessible from the computer readable medium 406 providingprogram code for use by or in connection with a computer or anyinstruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, thecomputer readable medium 406 can be any apparatus that can tangiblystore the program for use by or in connection with the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device, including the computer system400.

The medium 406 can be any tangible electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus ordevice). Examples of a computer readable medium 406 include asemiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computerdiskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), arigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Some examples of optical disksinclude compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write(CD-R/W) and DVD.

The computing system 400, suitable for storing and/or executing programcode, can include one or more processors 402 coupled directly orindirectly to memory 408 through a system bus 410. The memory 408 caninclude local memory employed during actual execution of the programcode, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storageof at least some program code in order to reduce the number of timescode is retrieved from bulk storage during execution. Input/output (I/O)devices 404 (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointingdevices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or throughintervening I/O controllers. Network adapters may also be coupled to thesystem to enable the computing system 400 to become coupled to otherdata processing systems, such as through host systems interfaces 412, orremote printers or storage devices through intervening private or publicnetworks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of thecurrently available types of network adapters.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method operable within a communication systemfor improving communications, the method comprising: establishing a linkbetween a first user equipment (UE) and a wireless access point (WAP) ina WiFi network via a contention based mode; altering an unused bit in a802.11 MAC header to direct the first UE to operate in a contention freemode; querying at least the first UE to determine aggressive radiofrequency (RF) band activity by another communication system in range ofthe WAP; determining that the aggressive RF band activity by the othercommunication system is pushing communication with the first UE via theWAP below a threshold level; wherein the communication protocol of theWiFi network is a WiFi protocol and the communication protocol of theother communication system is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol; anddirecting the first UE to report back the number of other UEs invicinity of the WAP and the other communication system.
 2. Acommunication system operable to improve communications, the systemcomprising: a wireless access point (WAP) operable to link a first userequipment (UE) to a WiFi network via a contention based mode; whereinthe WAP is operable to alter an unused but in a 802.11 MAC header todirect the first UE to operate in a contention free mode; acommunication processor operable to query at least the first UE todetermine aggressive radio frequency (RF) band activity by anothercommunication system in range of the WAP, to determine that theaggressive RF band activity by the other communication system is pushingcommunication with the first UE via the WAP below a threshold level, andbased on the determination, to direct the WAP to switch to a contentionfree mode to communicate with the first UE in the contention free mode;and wherein the WAP is operable to direct the first UE to report back anumber of other UEs in vicinity of the WAP and the other communicationsystem.
 3. The communication system of claim 2, wherein thecommunication processor is further operable to determine a number ofother UEs in vicinity of the WAP and the other communication systembased on connection attempts by the other UEs.
 4. The communicationsystem of claim 2, wherein the WAP is further operable to detect a 3GPPprotocol related capability of the first UE when the first UE attemptsto connect to the WAP.
 5. A non-transitory computer readable medium,further comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium comprisinginstructions that, when executed by a communication processor operablewithin a communication system, directs the communication processor to:Establish a link between a first user equipment (UE) and a wirelessaccess point (WAP) in a WiFi network via a contention based mode; alteran unused bit in a 802.11 MAC header to direct the first UE to operatein a contention free mode; instructions that direct the communicationprocessor to: query at least the first UE to determine aggressive radiofrequency (RF) band activity by another communication system in range ofthe WAP; determine that the aggressive RF band activity by the othercommunication system is pushing communication with the first UE via theWAP below a threshold level; and based on the determination, direct theWAP to switch to a contention free mode to communicate with the first UEin contention free mode.
 6. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 5, further comprising instructions that direct thecommunication processor to: direct the first UE to report back thenumber of other UEs in vicinity of the WAP and the other communicationsystem.